Zelensky says Iran still downplaying drone supplies to Russia after ‘confession’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Iran is still downplaying its supplying of drones to Russia following its “confession” that it was sending them. 

Zelensky said in an address on Saturday to the Ukrainian people that the Iranian government claims it has given a small number of drones to Russia and that it happened before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February, but he knows those claims are false. 

He said Ukrainian forces shoot down at least 10 Iranian drones per day, and officials know that Iranian instructors have taught the Russians how to use the drones, even though Tehran has remained quiet on this. 

Iran’s foreign minister acknowledged the country gave drones to Russia for the first time on Saturday, saying that the deliveries happened before the war started. Iranian officials had previously denied sending any drones to Russia. 

The foreign minister said Iran does not know about how the drones are being used in Ukraine. Tehran has maintained that it is officially neutral in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. 

Russia has used drones throughout the war to attack both military and civilian targets, and reports indicate that Iranian drones have been sent to attack Kyiv. 

“And if Iran continues lying about the obvious, it means that the world will make even more efforts to investigate the terrorist cooperation between the Russian and Iranian regimes and what Russia is paying Iran for such cooperation,” Zelensky said. 

“There will be no such thing in the modern world that any of the terrorists or their accomplices will remain unpunished,” he continued.